posted at 10:32 am on April 8, 2011 by Ed Morrissey

According to the Associated Press, the government shutdown may have been averted this morning by a last-minute deal — but no one’s quite sure whether the deal is set or not. Both Fox and CNN say that John Boehner was to have addressed the media at 10:25 ET … and that still hasn’t begun, although they’re doing sound checks now. Republicans and Democrats have reportedly agreed to cut $38 billion for the rest of FY2011, but that Democrats are still balking at $300 million in cuts to Planned Parenthood:

The top Democrat in the Senate says the White House and Republicans have agreed on a spending cut of $38 billion but a fight over federal dollars for Planned Parenthood is blocking a deal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters Friday he’s cautiously optimistic after late night talks at the White House, but the budget dispute also has become a moving target.

Update: It’s now 10:52 and this presser still hasn’t started. The National Journal explains that this might be because Reid and Boehner can’t even agree on what they agreed on:

“We agreed on a number last night,” Reid told reporters in the Senate Press Gallery. He said he is “really upset that this government is going to shut down” because of GOP efforts to limit access to abortion.

A spokesman for Boehner has challenged Reid’s account, saying that continuing differences over spending cuts, not the abortion rider, remain the problem.

Here’s an idea: The Senate can pass a bill funding Planned Parenthood separately, so that federal subsidies for abortion mills don’t create a government shutdown, and let the House debate it straight up. Reid won’t do that because PP funding is not popular and such a rider might not even pass in the Senate.

Update II: Boehner gave the shortest presser in modern history, which one reporter called “surreal” as he was being ushered out of the room. Boehner said that “spending” was the only issue holding up an agreement, and challenged the White House and Harry Reid to “get serious” on spending cuts. After delivering a short statement, Boehner left the room without taking a single question.

Reid said that in addition to agreeing on the spending cut, negotiators had worked out policy disputes, which involve environmental protection, implementing President Barack Obama’s health care law, and regulating the Internet.

But Reid said Democrats are holding the line on a plan to cut off Planned Parenthood from federal money.

“That is an issue, as the president said last night, that we are not bending on,” Reid said.

Really? We’re not going to fund the government because the House refuses to fund Planned Parenthood? That’s a position, all right. Let’s see Democrats run on it.

Update III: Here’s the video, via The Right Scoop. It’s quicker than producing a transcript.

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I think the Catholic Church gives her a pass because its obvious to all that she is mentally ill. I think they did ask John “I served in Vietnam” Kerry not to take communion due to his support of abortion though. If I’m remembering correctly, kudos to them.

Kataklysmic on April 8, 2011 at 12:18 PM

Yes, it’s an utter mystery to many of us Catholics why the Bishop in San Francisco does not take stronger measures to curtail Pelosi’s grave sins as to abortions (among other things). She’s been addressed, or, rather, had official letters written to her asking her to stop misrepresenting the Church on specific things such as abortion and “‘gay’ marriage” and more, but that she’s still receiving Holy Communion is ghastly on any other basis other than she’s noticeably mentally deranged and there’s hope, thereby, that she’ll be healed by our Lord via the Sacrament.

This may be why he changed his tune to “cancer Screenings”. It may have occurred to him he was letting too much of what he really thinks show.

Kristamatic on April 8, 2011 at 12:21 PM

I had the exact same thought.

Kataklysmic on April 8, 2011 at 12:23 PM

Yes, Reid is grabbing at straws, so is Pelosi. They’re now trying to exploit “cancer” and “women” to accommodate their evil intents and goals. They’re USING what they think makes the biggest emotional impact on gullible people.

Little Dickie Durbin is orating now about “Womens’ access to health care, cancer screening and family planning.”

F’ing liar.

For the entire 2009 year PP claims to have 7,021 Pre-natal clients (note this does not include delivery, just seeing a pregnant patient)

In the same year they performed 332,278 abortions.

You do the math.

Vera on April 8, 2011 at 11:22 AM

Devastating.

Naturally Curly on April 8, 2011 at 11:36 AM

What the Democrats MEAN by “family planning” ** IS ABORTION ** among the likely or potentially targeted females who might visit Planned Parenthood. Abortion to them is “family planning” and vice-versa.

After all that so-called and alleged “health care” commiserating by the Democrats, you’d think they’d understand that “health care” and “cancer screening” require medical facilities that Planned Parenthood DOESN’T HAVE NOR OPERATE.

No one NEEDS to be “referred” to anywhere by Planned Parenthood. They simply have to start with the proper facilities such as doctors’ offices.

This can’t be true because I saw the movie Dogma and Linda Fiorentino played a nice, understanding, overworked PP tech who just wanted to help people.

That’s how I know you’re full of crap.

/

fossten on April 8, 2011 at 12:18 PM

The saddeset part is the fact that I haven’t thought of that experience in decades. A very sad, desperate time. When I went there, they wanted me to abort. I refused. Unforunately, after my daughter was born and lived, she died. I later had a son who now thrives by and through the Grace of God.

I condemn planned parenthood and the smelly, hairy, disgusting women who work there. It is an abortion mill. Nothing more, nothing less.

I wouldn’t hesitate either. Margaret Sanger has been talked about as a hero of PP or woman’s rights or some such other crap. There is a clip of it where some other ugly lib woman is accepting an award and praising Sanger in her acceptance speech.
Look if it is not about Eugenics then they should damn well distance themselves from Sanger (which they don’t) and they should be honest about what they do (which they are not).
It’s all about abortion and killing babies and fits in perfectly with the socialist utopia that progressives think they want.

I am against funding of Planned Parenthood by the federal government but not for reasons of wanting to shove my moral values down the throats of others. I believe that if people want government funding of Planned Parenthood, they should work at their state level and have their state fund it if that is what the people of their state want. I would have no problem with that. I might *disagree* with it, and I might actively oppose it, but I believe it is fundamentally wrong for the government at the federal level to even be involved in the issue.

America is made up of lots of different regions and values vary from one region to another. What the people of Oklahoma want is probably much different than what the people of California want. The main problem we have no with politics at the federal level is that both parties want to dictate a set of moral standards from Washington D.C. across the land. This means that no matter which party is in charge in D.C., a significant portion of the population is scared to death of that party dictating their social agenda on them. Politics at the federal level should be about issues that bind us as Americans and not the issues that divide us.

A socially conservative state should be free to enact laws that reflect their values and the same for socially liberal states. And people in one should keep their noses out of what people in the other are doing. People should be able to find a place that reflects their values. If you don’t like it where you live, you can always vote with your feet (as Ronald Reagan would say). But you can’t flee the federal government without leaving the entire country.

A lot of the angst, bitterness, fear, and hyper-emotional rhetoric could be deflated if the parties at the federal level simply get their noses out of these social issues and allow the various states to decide those matters.

Having parties attempt to dictate their cultural policies across an entire country made up of regions of very different cultural values from one region to the next is a recipe for disaster.

Talking point for MSM will be that Culture War is more important to Reps than budget. Problem with this argument is Reid says it is about cancer screening. Didn’t know that was a culture war issue. Heh. They are boxed in and don’t know it.

Having parties attempt to dictate their cultural policies across an entire country made up of regions of very different cultural values from one region to the next is a recipe for disaster.

crosspatch on April 8, 2011 at 1:04 PM

This isn’t about cultural,whatever those are, or even moral stances. This comes down to the simple fact the PP is a private organization that shouldn’t receive government funding at any level. They can do fundraising on their own, period.

In other words, the President is more concerned that black babies never have the chance to be born than he is that government offices remain open and that our troops get paid.

By the same token, it is obviously more important to Harry Reid and Democrats in the Senate that future women never be born than it is to continue funding the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect this country or to pay their staff.

Getting lost in the back and forth of whether or not PP uses fungible fed money for abortions:

Planned Parenthood ought to not only lose its funding but should actually be investigated and prosecuted for its failure to report to authorities (as is its legal duty) when a minor comes in for an abortion when the impregnator is an older man who should be arrested and tried for statutory rape.

PP is a rogue organization that wants to kill babies so deeply that it has been implicated time and time again in illegally shirking its lawful responsibilities.

Federally funding even a dime for this group is a travesty on many, many levels.

From where I sit, I think the Repubs are DOING all the right things. The problem is they are letting the weasily Dems frame the media message. To Boenher, now would be a great time to take to the podium with a big microphone and state the following:

1) This budget issue is before us today, six months after it was supposed to be passed because the Democrats who at the time held both houses and the WH refused to come up with anything. They played politics with the budget because at the time they were cowards who didn’t want the budget to affect their November campaigns.

2) Even after the November election, the Dems did nothing about the budget, preferring instead to try to ram through their radical agenda of the Dream Act and gays in the military.

3) The HOUSE has already PASSED the budget. In fact, the House has also passed a CR which would fund the government and the troops so we could work all this out. It is now up to Reid and the Senate to pass either bill (which they are not doing) and the White House to sign the bill. If the government is shut down, THEY are the ones obstructing this process at every turn, and THEY should be held accountable.

It was only last week that Live Action exposed embattled Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards’ false claim that the organization provides mammograms for women. Now this week, Tait Sye, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood, made this outrageously wild assertion to Community Television of Southern California:

“If we are defunded, America’s emergency rooms will be overrun.”

OK, I’ll bite. Why exactly will emergency rooms be overrun?

Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide emergency room services. And who goes to an emergency room to get an abortion, STD test, birth control, or Pap smear? This wouldn’t be another false claim by Planned Parenthood, would it?

If people did go elsewhere it would likely be to the approximately 7,000 federally funded health centers in the United States that provide more comprehensive care than Planned Parenthood offers.

OK, about $300 million annual sent to PP.
They do about 300,000 abortions per year.
So, we “fund” their services to the tune of $1,000 per abortion
If abortions are their primary business (95%) that would mean that the non-abortion services amount to $6,000,000,000 (that’s 6 TRILLION if 5% = 300 million)
Unless they use part of the government money to subsidize the abortion services to keep the price below the cost…

Reid wouldn’t have won re-election this last time against the Tea Party candidate without his Mormon votes. Organized crime backed him. But organized crime alone did not win Reid’s re-election for him. It took his successful stumping Nevada’s Mormon churches for enough people to cast votes for him to beat Angle.

Evidently, abortion is likely the thriving together with legal gambling and prostitution industry in Nevada.

Double Down Reid demands federal taxes taken indiscriminately from all taxpayers to be spent on ObamaCare abortions AND to also fund Planned Parenthood given that organization’s #1 expense is factoring abortions, and its #1 source of income is taken from US taxpayers. I’d bet that both organizations would fraudulently bill for each single abortion performed, regardless of which actually performs the “service”.

So a Mormon Senator taking financial kickbacks throughout his career won’t personally fund his granddaughters’ abortions because he wants you and I to fund their abortions. Literally, WTF!

You want actual evidence? You shall have it. Be careful what you ask for.

Key West Reader on April 8, 2011 at 12:51 PM

I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying. What you gave was an anecdote, and it was anecdotal evidence for the claim that Lourdes made. All I said was that while I believe that the clinic you went to didn’t have the prenatal services you wanted, it’s not true in general that Planned Parenthood doesn’t offer these services.

I don’t see what’s so wrong about saying that. I don’t think I was being insensitive about your story, nor was I making any claims that were exaggerated or untrue. Why are you saying “shame on you,” and what do you mean that I will have actual evidence?

Go back and read your post. You quoted KWR, not Lourdes, and you didn’t mention Lourdes in your post. It’s not my fault you don’t know how to quote the correct post you’re responding to, or reference which person you’re addressing. As it stands, your response was nothing but a straw man.

fossten on April 8, 2011 at 12:06 PM

I don’t know what to say. I’ve clarified exactly what I meant, and that meaning should have been pretty clear in my original comment. Even if it wasn’t, you’re still claiming after my clarification that I’m arguing against a straw man, which I’m not.

KWR provided an anecdote that supported Lourdes’ claim. I didn’t say, “You’re wrong, KWR.” I simply said “I don’t think it’s true that Planned Parenthood in general doesn’t provide prenatal care and only does abortions.” That statement wasn’t responding to a straw man. It was responding to Lourdes’ claim that Planned Parenthood doesn’t do anything other than provide abortions. I’m pretty sure that KWR and Lourdes both understood that, as did anyone else who was following the conversation. I suppose I could have quoted KWR’s quote of Lourdes to make this more clear (I did this in my reply to you). Then after my reply, you still claimed I was arguing against a straw man. I’m not.

I’m saying that Planned Parenthood does provide these other services, though I understand the reply of Lourdes and others who say this is just dressing on top of PP’s primary purpose, which is abortion. Obviously I agree with this. The primary and most unique service that PP provides is abortion. It is disingenuous of Democrats to focus only on the non-abortion services of PP, even though defunding PP will have a real effect in that area. This fight is clearly about abortion, and the Democrats are willing to risk a shutdown over funding what they consider to be an important service that government funds, while Republicans are willing to risk a shutdown over funding what they consider to be an evil service that the government shouldn’t fund.

The saddeset part is the fact that I haven’t thought of that experience in decades. A very sad, desperate time. When I went there, they wanted me to abort. I refused. Unforunately, after my daughter was born and lived, she died. I later had a son who now thrives by and through the Grace of God.

I condemn planned parenthood and the smelly, hairy, disgusting women who work there. It is an abortion mill. Nothing more, nothing less.

Key West Reader on April 8, 2011 at 12:30 PM

I am sorry to hear about that experience and that your daughter did not survive. You are very brave and your faith speaks volumes. God bless you.

I’m saying that Planned Parenthood does provide these other services, though I understand the reply of Lourdes and others who say this is just dressing on top of PP’s primary purpose, which is abortion. Obviously I agree with this. The primary and most unique service that PP provides is abortion. It is disingenuous of Democrats to focus only on the non-abortion services of PP, even though defunding PP will have a real effect in that area. This fight is clearly about abortion, and the Democrats are willing to risk a shutdown over funding what they consider to be an important service that government funds, while Republicans are willing to risk a shutdown over funding what they consider to be an evil service that the government shouldn’t fund.

tneloms on April 8, 2011 at 3:35 PM

You admit that the other ‘services’ are just window dressing. So you admit you’re just arguing minutiae for the sake of arguing.

Auschwitz offered free showers. We all know how that promise played out.

When the Eastern Front began to collapse the National Socialists tried to accelerate the pace of slaughter realizing the Final Solution was in jeopardy. Reid is just following the old Socialist play book.

Give it a rest. Your assertion has already been debunked, despite your ad nauseum attempts to use the ‘nope’ defense.

fossten on April 8, 2011 at 3:34 PM

I didn’t use the “nope” defense. I linked to webpages showing that they do in fact provide these services. I agree that these are not the primary function of PP, and I agree that this debate is obviously primarily about abortion.

You admit that the other ‘services’ are just window dressing. So you admit you’re just arguing minutiae for the sake of arguing.

Got it.

fossten on April 8, 2011 at 3:38 PM

It’s not minutiae. While PP’s primary function is abortion, they do provide other services, and those services are important and widely used. Claiming that they only do abortion is needlessly exaggerating and hurting the debate.

Cause PP to end their abortion industry and their doors would close faster than Lehman Brothers. Hitler gave the world the Autobahn, economy car and high-speed rail… but at what a cost in life, torture and destruction by his ultimate goal for other conveniences.

I can’t understand why the rich democrats can’t get $300 million dollars a year and give it to PP. It would be a tzx right off for them.

They don’t want that. They want approval and legitimacy. It’s for the very same reason that the Gays seek to elevate and legitimize what thay do to the legal status of marriage. If the government funds it or allows it – it must be good to.

It’s sort of like the old communist party of the 30’s and 40’s always putting the world America into their faux organizations -to legitimize them and make them acceptable.

If abortions can be equated with government-funded charities, well then killing innocents is a good thing, no?

OMG, I have never seen such immaturity since Bush won the White House! The Republicans are killing women, they want them to get cancer, and they’re doing the equivilent of bombing innocent civilians! How ridiculous can they get?!!

Well, here you go, click on this link on Facebook, where some really upstanding democrat citizens are calling for other citizens to take their complaints directly to the Speaker of the House, like shutting down the government is all his doing….

He said he is “really upset that this government is going to shut down” because of GOP Democrat efforts to continue breaking the law and force taxpayers to fund limit access to abortion in defiance of the Hyde Amendment.

GRRRR…..

I haven’t had a chance to keep up with this the way I’d like, so can someone tell me if the GOP have been making sure to turn this argument around on the Dems and make the point that the Government is going to shut down because Democrats refuse to stop forcing us to pay for other women’s abortions?

All I hear them (GOP) and pundits saying is “no it isn’t about ideology, it’s about cutting spending…blah blah…” No! It is about ideology, the Dems’ ideology! Dems are the pro-abortion ideologues who won’t budge on what is supposed to be against the law in the first place.

Why do they get away with saying only one side is ideology driven? Oh, the hypocrisy!!!! Turn it on them Boehner, and don’t you dare cave on this. Kill the funding to PP.

It’s not minutiae. While PP’s primary function is abortion, they do provide other services, and those services are important and widely used.

tneloms on April 8, 2011 at 3:52 PM

False, and this has been factually debunked in this thread.

fossten on April 8, 2011 at 3:59 PM

It’s not false. Here is the PP document that people have been citing: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/PP_Services.pdf.They way they count things (by services performed), it definitely understates the significance of abortion services, since technically only 3% of services performed were abortions. However, it’s also clear that they do a LOT more than just abortions, and these other services really are widely used. They performed 3.9 million STI procedures and 1.8 million procedures related to cancer screening and prevention in 2009, for example.